Siemens' Mobility Division established its "Rail Innovation Centre of Competence" - the first of its kind worldwide - in the United Kingdom in March 2011. At this Innovation Centre, Siemens will lead the development of new concepts and technologies for the international rail vehicle service business. The demand for these services is ever increasing: The corresponding world market is scheduled to grow by more than three per cent per annum to €35 billion by 2016. The service business accounts for more than one third of the total rail transportation market worldwide. In the UK, Siemens has already concluded a maintenance contract with the operator of each train it has supplied to date. The vehicles manufactured and serviced by Siemens have received several awards in recognition of their outstanding reliability. The Innovation Centre – and thus Siemens customers across the globe – will benefit from the experience gained from the daily service business at the British depots.

At its first Rail Innovation Centre of Competence worldwide in the United Kingdom, Siemens will now develop modern concepts and technologies to allow condition-based, predictive and preventive maintenance solutions by monitoring the performance of all vehicles in service. This approach enables maintenance technicians to continuously monitor trains, railways and locomotives, along with their performance, while in operation on the line – i.e. also outside the regular service appointments at the depot. Remote maintenance and predictive service improve the vehicles' safety and reliability. At the same time, these maintenance approaches reduce service costs for the operator because service and repair cycles can be determined more precisely. If the remote measuring data show abnormalities, the Siemens technicians can intervene immediately even before a fault occurs.

"With the foundation of the Rail Innovation Centre of Competence, Siemens is responding to the increasing worldwide demand for rail vehicle services. We want to help our customers to further improve the efficiency and reliability of train operation", explains Nicholas Kay, Manager of the new Innovation Centre of Competence. In his previous position the British engineer, who joined Siemens in 2007, was responsible for developing technical improvements to Siemens' Desiro fleet which has already won several coveted awards in the UK for its outstanding reliability. From the United Kingdom, Nicholas Key will now promote the development of new service technologies and concepts for Siemens and its international customers.

At nine depots across the UK (Acton, Ardwick, Crewe, Glasgow Shields, Ilford, Leeds, Northampton, Southampton and York), Siemens is already responsible for the maintenance of a total of over 370 trains of its Desiro family for seven different operators. Siemens is the only manufacturer in the UK which has signed a maintenance contract for each train delivered. In recognition of their high reliability, the Desiro Class 444 trains operated by South West Trains in London were even awarded the "2010 Golden Spanner" in January 2011 by the "Modern Railways" international trade journal. In 2010 the fleet traveled 89,000 kilometers on average without a ‘fault-caused failure’ of a train. This record makes the Desiro Class 444 the most reliable train in Britain. The "Modern Railways" international trade journal handed over further awards for reliability to the Desiro Class 360/2, operated in London by Heathrow Express, and the Class 350/2 train, operated by London Midland.

Siemens has been present in the UK for over 160 years and has a workforce of over 16,000 employees in this country, with around half involved in manufacturing and engineering. Around 1,600 employees are working at Siemens' Mobility Division, which has been active in the British market since 1996.